Moments
by Great Gray Owl
Summary: A brief look at how a few moments in time can change your life forever and how support can sometimes come from some unexpected places.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One:**

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't the Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew, or any characters associated with either._

_**Author's Note: **Even though each piece of this chapter is focusing on a different character or set of characters it all takes place at the same time, within the same few minutes. This is being done as a personal writing challenge, but anyone else who want to take it on is welcome. If you do though please let me know how it goes, I'd like to know how much trouble other people would have at this type of thing. Please read and review._

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He aimed the gun and nobody seemed to notice, but then the gun was hardly a large one. It didn't need to be, his aim was good enough that he wouldn't need more than the one shot that his gun held. In a matter of seconds it would be over, Mayor Hill would never be in the senate. She'd be buried in the cemetery during the campaign! With a cold smirk on his face he fired right at the Mayor's heart.

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"Yes Mayor Hill, I do think you have a good chance for the senate. Though from what Mr. Drew says the senate may not be ready for when you hit them, he has some horror stories about facing you across the court room. I'm almost sorry I'll never get the chance." Said a prominent young up and coming attorney as he walked with the mayor out of the River Heights city hall. There were still news cameras everywhere from the announcement earlier in the day that the Mayor of a fairly small town was running for the senate.

"Are you sure you aren't just saying that because your wife supports me Mr. Nickerson?" Mayor Caroline Hill asked teasingly, laughing when Ned Nickerson glanced over to where his wife was walking out with her father, Nancy did indeed support Caroline Hill for senate. Just as she had supported her for mayor.

"Actually I just want you out of the Mayors office so one of _my_ candidates can win for once." He responded teasing right back, in the past year since he had started working at city hall Ned had come to like and respect the Mayor. And since Carson Drew was dating her, Ned ended up seeing more of her than he would have under normal conditions.

"Nancy and I have been monopolizing the race a bit haven't we?" Caroline said with a laugh, "I don't know what I would have done without Nancy on my campaign team." she added thinking back to the first time she had won. Nancy had had to clear her name after a slanderous newspaper story had been printed that had connected her to a fencing operation which she was certainly _not_ affiliated with.

"Lost." Ned said certainly, "Lost the first race, and probably gone to jail." he added having also drifted back to that point in time. Suddenly something in the crowd caught his eye, then he heard a gun shot.

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"Dad… I'll be fine! It's not like it'll be the first case I take in Arizona! Besides, it's only a theft not a murder or anything like that." Nancy said to her father as they left city hall a few moments after Ned and the Mayor, she noticed all the people who were still hanging around after the press conference earlier but didn't think much of it since the news crews always stuck around after a press conference hoping to get an exclusive.

"I know honey but I'm worried, after all it seems like just yesterday that I was walking my little girl down the aisle! I thought you'd take some time off to get used to married life." Carson Drew said to his daughter, in actuality he knew it had been nearly two and a half years since her wedding and that she had not taken many cases since then since she had been focusing on getting the proper permits for opening her own agency. He just wasn't entirely sure how he felt about his little girl turning such a dangerous passion into a real career. Sometimes he wished she and Ned would slow down and start a family already, but they were both so focused on their respective careers that he knew it wasn't likely in the near future.

"Dad…" Nancy said affectionately kissing him on the cheek, "I'll be fine." she repeated simply. She scanned the crowd again but this time she saw something that made her breath catch, a gun pointed right at Mayor Hill! She started running but was still over a yard away when the gun went off, and she saw Ned throw himself in front of Caroline Hill. "No! Ned! No!" she screamed as she saw him fall.

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Laura was washing the dishes from her lunch with Fenton, it was nice when he was on a case and could spend some time with her rather than just catching something from a restaurant near his agency. It got a bit lonely sometimes, especially when Gertrude was off visiting someone like she was now.

Fenton came up behind his wife and encircled her waist with his arms. "Why don't we leave the dishes for later?" he murmured near her ear before kissing her cheek.

"Fenton… What if the boys came over?" Laura asked though she wasn't entirely sure she cared herself, she turned around in his arms so that she faced him.

"They're on a case remember? They probably won't spend much time at home never mind visiting anyone. Besides Callie is probably going to be pretty annoyed if Frank for one can't figure out what a married couple does behind closed doors." Fenton said as he started working her towards the bedroom slowly.

"And Joe?" Laura asked teasingly before she kissed her husband.

"I'm pretty sure he's figured it out too considering how many girlfriends he's gone through over the years." Fenton said. Laura's laugh was muffled by Fenton's kiss, after a second she wasn't laughing anymore either.

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"What are you watching Frank?" Joe asked his brother as he came back into his apartment carrying a box of pizza with two boxes of donuts on top of it, the donuts supposedly being the reason he had gone out to get the pizza rather than have it delivered. If he was out anyway it was perfectly reasonable that he stop by a donut shop and get a box, or two. Besides if he'd had it delivered he'd have had to help with the research they had to get done for the case they were currently working on, and he'd always hated the research side of detective work.

"News, apparently the mayor of River Heights is planning on running for the senate." Frank said as he turned around to look over the back of the couch at Joe, "You got donuts and pizza? That one is just a weird combination little brother." he said. He had been listening to the news while he looked through some files for the case they were currently on, Joe was supposed to be helping with this but he had decided an hour and a half before that he needed food and after that there had been no stopping him from going out the door after it. Which meant that Frank would be spending lunch with his brother rather than his wife for the third time this week, but hopefully he'd be done with all this paperwork before dinner or he'd be in the frying pan.

Joe made a face at Frank then nodded at the TV, "They're showing a live feed from River Heights." he said as he came around one side of the couch to set the pizza and donuts down on the coffee table beside the files. Then the sound of a single gunshot made his him look at the TV in shock.

Frank had all ready been watching the screen when the shot rang out but the camera didn't catch the shooter. All hell had broken loose on screen and people could be seen running and screaming everywhere, but one scream in particular could be heard above the all others and made their blood run cold even as the news crew cut the feed.

"No! Ned! No!" Cried a voice that even just over two years, even when it was distorted by so much pain and fear, either would recognize in an instant.

Frank's breath had frozen in his throat when he'd heard Nancy's voice, but Joe's hadn't. "Oh god." Joe muttered looking slightly sick, the pizza and donuts now lay as forgotten as the files on the table.

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_**Author's Note: **__Ok, I realize that this is far from being a long chapter but hopefully in this case length isn't necessary for drama. I also know that there are a lot of you that will hate what I just did to Ned, but look at it this way: at least he got hit while he was doing something noble. In a large portion of the half-formed plots for fan fictions that run through my head he cheats on Nancy or something even more despicable. Besides the idea for this story has been floating around my head for awhile now so I had to at least try to write it. Please review._


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two:**

_**Disclaimer: **__Would I be here if I owned them?_

_**Author's Note: **__Patience people! You'll find out what's going on soon, and I'll try to give the shooter a name once I think of one.

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He couldn't believe that he had been arrested so fast, for attempted murder. They told him that the charge could be raised to murder one if the lawyer died, but he didn't know what they were talking about. He had shot the mayor not a lawyer! They were trying to charge him with the wrong crime! He would not stand for this!

But no… He couldn't let his temper override his common sense, they wouldn't get him by lying about who he had shot. The mayor would die, he was certain of it since he had aimed so carefully before he had pulled the trigger, the bullet had to have hit her heart.

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Nancy watched her father pace the hospital waiting room, she was too worried to even pace herself. She wasn't certain what she would do if anything happened to Ned, if he didn't pull out of this… No, she just couldn't think of that. He'd pull through, he'd be fine. He had to be. Not for the first time Nancy wondered why she hadn't seen the gun sooner? Why hadn't she moved faster?

Carson was worried both about Ned and about Nancy who had been unnaturally quiet since Ned had been taken into surgery two and a half hours ago. They hadn't heard much beyond that he still critical. Carson had called Hannah and had her sound the alarm through Nancy's friends on the drive to the hospital, he figured that Bess and George would be here soon but they had been in Chicago shopping for a job interview that Bess was very excited about that was scheduled for the next week. Now with this going on he had to wonder if she'd remember it.

Nancy looked up from her study of the floor as Bess and George came into the waiting room. Carson relaxed a little once he saw them too, part of him had been waiting to find out that they had crashed on the way there or something. That just seemed to be how they're luck was going.

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Caroline Hill rested her head in her hands as she finally got off the phone with one of River Heights news papers, she was scared by what had happened but as the mayor she still had to make a statement about it. She had spoken to the press in general but had also made a private statement to a couple of the newspapers, just as a personal assurance that she would get her point across.

Part of her wanted to go home and go to bed but she knew that Carson would need her right now almost as much as Nancy would need him, so she stood, grabbed her purse, and got ready to go to the hospital and join the vigil for Ned. Her slight reluctance to go wasn't because she didn't like Ned, it was more because she wasn't sure that she'd know what to say to Nancy and Carson.

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Hannah sighed as she hung up the phone having successfully gotten a hold of Frank, now she just needed to call Joe and Fenton who hadn't answered when she'd tried him earlier. She dialed Joe first to give Fenton some time to get home, to be honest she wasn't looking forward to telling him about this one but she felt that the Hardys should be informed if only because they might as well be family. She knew for a fact that Nancy saw Joe as practically a brother, she didn't see Frank in quite the same way but they were still close. Besides Fenton and Carson had known each other for years and were almost as close as brothers themselves, so she really felt that she should tell them even if they couldn't come.

After a few moments Joe picked up, "Hello Joe."

"_Hannah?" _Joe asked slightly confused, Frank had left his apartment right after the news cast and he had been stuck trying to finish the research they had been doing, not that he could focus on that when he was worried about Nancy and for some odd reason Ned despite the fact that he had never been overly fond of they guy nor Ned of him.

"Yes, I'm afraid I have some bad news." Hannah said hesitantly, despite the fact that she felt that they had a right to know she still didn't really want to tell them.

"_Ned?" _Joe asked remembering that news cast.

"Yes, how'd you know?" Hannah asked not knowing that one of the news crews had still been broadcasting when the shooting had happened.

"_There was a news crew broadcasting when we heard a gunshot what sounded like Nancy shouting, the camera didn't catch what had happened though." _Joe explained.

"Someone tried to assassinate the mayor, Ned got in the way though… He was shot." Hannah explained as calmly and clearly as she could.

"_Is he okay? How bad is it?" _Joe asked instantly worried about his friends husband.

"The last I heard he was still in surgery, and critical." Hannah said wondering if Carson had heard anything new yet.

"_Do they know who did it?" _Joe asked as he started jotting down what Hannah had told him so far so that he'd have the facts straight when he called Frank and Callie.

"When Carson called me a little while ago he said that the Chief had told him that they had caught the guy a couple blocks away from city hall." Hannah responded, "From what I've heard he's very happy about what he's done, or was until he found out that it was only attempted murder he was being charged with."

"_So he's a real nut job?" _Joe asked rhetorically.

"Anyone who do something like that would have to be." Hannah claimed.

"_How's Nancy holding up?" _Joe asked to change the subject away from the highly subjective one of the sanity of the average criminal.

"Not so well, apparently she saw the gun right before it went off and now she's blaming herself." Hannah explained.

"_What for?" _Joe asked, though he knew full well how this sort of thing worked.

"She thinks she should have moved faster." Hannah said with a sigh, "Is that part of being a detective or something?" she asked.

"_I'm sorry to that I think it is. We always wonder what would have happened if we had been a little quicker with whatever, and it's a hundred times worse if someone gets hurt." _Joe said apologetically.

"I was afraid on that." Hannah said sighing, "I'm sorry Joe but I have another couple calls I need to make so I need to let you go."

"_That's alright, bye Hannah. Please let me know when you hear more." _Joe responded before they hung up.

Hannah hung up and then dialed Fenton again, she'd already called Eloise and promised to call again when she had more news so after this call all she had to do was call Carson and see if there was anything new to report to everyone.

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Fenton and Laura were getting dressed when the phone rang again, and Laura watched Fenton answer it without bothering to put on a shirt despite the fact that the phone was right in front of a window. Sometimes it amazed her how he could still take her breath away after all these years, and she hoped that her boys found someone who could do the same for them.

As she watched she saw Fenton's happy smile fade, something had happened. From what she heard him saying to whoever was on the other end of the line she gathered that it had something to do with Nancy and her husband, it seems like his name was Ned.

After a few minutes Fenton hung up, "That was Frank, Hannah just called him. Nancy's husband, Ned, has been shot. He was in critical condition last Frank heard." Fenton explained looking a little worried.

"Poor Ned… Poor Nancy!" Laura said sympathetically, knowing what it was like when she had been the one to know that her husband had been shot. Sometimes she thought it was harder on the family than it was on the one that actually got hurt.

Fenton walked over to her and gave her a hug, "He'll be alright Laura, I hear he's a fighter. He'd have to be to get a girl like Nancy to the alter." he said reassuringly, "From what Carson has told me over the years, Ned had to work pretty hard to do that, so I doubt that he's going to give up now."

"I hope your right Fenton, they looked so happy at their wedding, and it was such a short time ago really." Laura said leaning her head against his shoulder briefly before the phone rang again. When she answered it she heard Hannah's voice.

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Bess and George walked as fast as they dared through the corridors of the hospital, while they wanted to get to Nancy as quickly as possible they didn't want to get yelled at by the nurses any more than they had wanted to get a ticket on the way back from Chicago.

"I can't believe that we were shopping while Ned got shot!" Bess said despairingly as though they should have known what was going to happen. "I hope he's okay."

"I'm sure he will be Bess, and there's no way we could have known what was going to happen." George responded but she was having a little trouble believing it herself, it seemed kind of surreal. Like it couldn't really have happened and they'd find out it was all a mistake or a sick joke any minute now.

"It still seems like we should have been there." Bess responded shaking her head, the two women slowed down a little as they came nearer to the waiting room for the O.R. George noticed that Mr. Drew seemed to relax a little when he saw them but Nancy looked up for only a moment before she went back to studying the floor tiles.

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The young surgeon paused outside of the doors of the waiting room, she hated being the low man on the totem pole but she supposed that talking to the family was all part of being an intern in surgery. At least this one hadn't died on the table yet despite the fact that his heart had stopped three times already during the surgery. Now she had to go tell them that while they were still working on him his condition was deteriorating. That his heart had already stopped more than once on the table, and answer their questions when what she wanted was to be in the O.R.

She took a deep breath and scolded herself for procrastinating, the sooner she got this over with the sooner she could get back into that operating room! She took one more deep breath and allowed herself the luxury of one cringe in expectation of what was to come, and went into the waiting room to speak with Mrs. Nickerson.

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_**Author's Note: **__I liked the response I got to that last chapter, and I hope you'll all keep reviewing. I need the support if I'm going to resist the lure of insanity that this story is dangling in front of me. And for anyone reading _Secrets and Friends_: Don't worry I'm still working on that as well, it just depends on which story my muse chooses to inspire me for on any given day._


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three:**

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't have the money to buy them, I will if I ever get the chance though._

_**Author's Note: **__Ok, I know that some of you really don't like what I did in the last chapter. I'm sorry about that, you'll probably like this chapter even less but like I said before this story was screaming to be written. I just have to ask though; Where did I ever say that this was a Nancy/Frank?! I don't think I ever said that!

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He was angry as he paced his cell, it wasn't that he minded the cell much. In fact he wouldn't have minded it at all if that damn lawyer hadn't gotten in the way! Now the lawyer was dead and Hill was still alive to suck the life blood from the city as she'd been doing for the past eight years.

They said he'd be put away for life, but he doubted it. Rich people never went to jail, or they didn't stay in for long anyway. He'd hire the best lawyer, not Carson Drew though. That lawyer that got in the way was Drew's son-in-law or something like that, there might be a conflict of interest there. But there were other lawyers out there, better ones, ones without troublesome family members. It was just a matter of finding them, and that was easy enough if you knew where to look.

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It was really amazing how many friends Ned had, so many people came to say good bye. People he knew from law school, college, or even high school were coming along with the expected people from his work. Then there were the people coming just to see if Nancy was all right, it all added up to Nancy's apartment getting very crowded on the days leading up to the funeral.

If they had come for any other reason Nancy would have been pleased to see all of them, but as it was she didn't want to see any of them. All she wanted was to be left alone, she didn't want all the food they were foisting on her constantly, she just wanted to sleep. Maybe if she did she would wake up it would all be a horrible nightmare and Ned would still be there sleeping there beside her. She knew there was still plenty of work left to do at her agency but she couldn't work up the energy to do it, in fact she was having trouble seeing any point in trying.

It felt to her like the world had ended. There had been no fire raining from the heavens, no cracks opening up in the earth swallowing houses or splitting continents. Still, she'd be burying her world in just a couple hours and she wouldn't be lying beside him like she had always thought. She had always known which of them had the more dangerous job, and that being the case she had always thought that she would be the one to be killed if it had to be one of them. She had never thought it would be Ned who would get shot, who would die at the hands of a mad man. Sweet Ned who loved her more than anything, Ned who only ever wanted to help, who put up with her love for mysteries and all the times she ended up working on a case with Frank and Joe despite the fact that he had never liked them, not to mention all the times she'd had to cancel a date because of a case. She'd even postponed their wedding for one and he'd dealt with it from her! Though admittedly not without complaint, but most people would have called off the wedding after something like that… How was she supposed to live without him now?

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Fenton Hardy's rental car pulled into the drive of the Drew residence just as Carson Drew was coming out to go back over to Nancy's. "Hello Fenton, I didn't expect you here so soon." Carson said sounding tired, actually he looked pretty tired too. It was almost as though he had aged years in the past few days, he was already dressed for the funeral which was a couple hours away. "Where are the boys?" he asked after Fenton and Laura had both gotten out of the car and crossed the lawn to meet him. Carson forced a small smile for Laura, but it was gone again all too quickly.

"They're taking a later flight, they should be here some time this evening. They would have come for the funeral but they just closed a case and they have a couple loose ends they _have_ to tie up before they can leave the state." Fenton explained then he smiled a little grimly, "And they do have to, they tried to wriggle out of it but the chief threatened to arrest them and stick them in a holding cell until they cleared it up. I'm not sure what charges he came up with but he must have had something since they listened."

"Well, since he could hold them for up to twenty-four hours without charging them with anything it was probably quicker to just do whatever it was they were supposed to be doing." Carson said with a small shrug as he worked a key off his key ring, "Probably more pleasant than what we'll be doing as well. Why don't you take this? There's a spare somewhere in the house but I really don't feel like finding it right at this moment. I'm about to head over to Nancy's to make sure everything is still ok over there but you're welcome to anything you need in the house. You know where everything is don't you Fenton?" he asked as he handed over the key.

"Don't worry about us, we'll be fine. Take care of your daughter." Laura said kindly as Fenton took the house key from his old friend.

Carson nodded, slightly distracted. "Thanks, I'll call later to see how you're doing." He said as he started for his car again, luckily he had parked it on the curb in case Bess or someone brought Nancy over. No-one had but since Fenton had pulled in the driveway he would have been blocked in if he hadn't. He stopped before he got in, "Before I forget; Hannah is over at Nancy's so you'll have the house to yourself for awhile. I hope you don't mind." he called. When they denied minding he started for his daughter's.

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Hannah was washing the dishes from the small meal she had managed to get Nancy to eat, for the first time since they had started hanging out with Nancy she had had to argue with Bess and George over who got the task. She had finally ended the discussion by pointing out that they needed to get ready for the funeral and their apartment was forty minutes away. It wasn't the nicest way to do it but it had worked, and she had wanted to worry in private for awhile. Besides it wasn't her fault that they hadn't brought their dresses with them, as she had. They really did need to get ready though, after all the funeral home and the cemetery were both closer to Nancy's apartment and with two forty minute drives they wouldn't have much time left to get ready before the funeral..

Hannah sighed as she glanced towards Nancy's bedroom, though she couldn't actually see the door she knew it would be closed. It was like Nancy was trying to close everyone out, she was hardly eating and spending most of her time in bed pretending to be asleep whenever there was a break in all the people coming to offer condolences. When there were a lot of people there Nancy tended toward being polite but cool, bordering on cold, and they rarely stayed very long.

It was hard to believe that Nancy was a widow, that a man as sweet and helpful as Ned could be gone just like that. Despite what had happened to her own Charles so many years before she still felt that good people should be safe from madmen, and no amount of proof to that they weren't would convince her that they shouldn't be!

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Frank and Joe were waiting for the call to board their plane, they had worked like fiends to get their work done but they though they might have managed with enough time to get there, if not for the funeral at least right after. Frank was willing to admit that Ned was a good man even if he had never liked him, that dislike had been mutual so it could hardly be held against him. He still felt a little guilty about it though. It wasn't like he hadn't had respect for Ned, at least professionally. It was the personal front that they had had trouble dealing with each other on. And even if he hadn't had a certain amount of respect for lawyers and what they do, he'd have respected what Ned had died doing anyway. Taking a bullet for someone else was something he had to respect no matter who did it, and no matter how much he wished it hadn't happened.

Joe had never been Ned's favorite person either but he and Ned had never had as much trouble with each other as Frank and Ned, those two had really seemed to hate each other. At least they had the last time Joe had seen them together, which had been right before Nancy's wedding. They would have gone to the wedding, they'd been invited but after it was postponed they couldn't make it. After all they had jobs too. They had talked to Nancy on the phone a few times after that but for the most part their communication with her had dwindled to occasional e-mails over time, mostly since Ned had gotten that engagement ring on her finger so Joe kind of agreed with Frank that the two events were probably connected. He figured it was probably a sad fact of life since he'd seen less of Frank since Frank had gotten married too.

Frank was checking his personal e-mail while they waited, he hadn't checked it in several days which was unlike him but they had been busy trying to get everything done in time to go to Ned's funeral. He'd checked his professional e-mail but hadn't bothered with his private box, as he scanned through he kept an ear out for the announcement that they needed to board the plane. He'd hate to miss it after how hard they'd worked to be able to make this flight.

He scanned through the e-mails, dumping the junk mail without opening it, after a few minutes he saw an e-mail from Nancy that he'd received the day Ned had been shot and opened that:

_Hey Frank, I know we haven't touched bases in awhile so I thought I'd let give you and Joe an update on my agency. I finally got that permit that was giving me so much trouble, and I have the office space rented. I'm not sure where I'm going to get the money for the supplies I still need though, I guess I can take out a loan. Knowing most everybody in River Heights has it's advantages, I got a great deal on an electrician to put in the new lights up. I probably would have done better financially to have left that for later but I think being able to see my clients will be something close to a necessity. Anyway how would you, Callie, and Joe like to come for a visit? And before you say anything about Ned, it was actually his idea that I invite you. He's not as jealous as he used to be, not since the wedding anyway. I guess he figures that no matter how close you and I might have been he was the one that a ring on my finger, and it probably doesn't hurt that you're married now too Frank. He said the other night that he knew I missed talking to you and that I should invite you to come visit. I'm about to be dealing with a case in Arizona, but if you are interested let me know and maybe we can work out a time for you to visit after I get back that works for all of us. Nancy._

"Somehow I don't think this is what Nancy had in mind when she sent that." Joe said as he finished reading the e-mail over Frank's shoulder.

Frank was saved from having to respond by the announcement that their plane was boarding. Callie joined them just as they were getting in line, she had been off getting some magazines to read during the flight.

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Bess stared out the window as George drove back to their apartment, she was both worried about Nancy and heart sick about Ned. "We should have brought our dresses to Nancy's, if traffic gets much worse we'll end up late for the funeral." she said to break the silence in the car.

George glanced over at her cousin, "I know, but there's nothing we can do about it now." she said simply. She was worried about Nancy too, Nancy just wasn't acting like herself. It was like Ned's death had thrown Nancy into a tailspin and none of her friends knew how to pull her out of it.

"I wonder if Frank and Joe will come for the funeral." Bess asked after a few minutes, the silence was just too much for her to deal with.

"I hope so, maybe Frank will know what to do to help Nancy." George said thinking of the bond that the two detectives had always seemed to share. Traffic thinned out a little and she started thinking they might be able to get home and dressed and still have enough time left to make it to the funeral on time.

"Well, we certainly don't." Bess said miserably.

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_**Author's Note: **__Please let me know what you guys think of this, it's more difficult than I thought it would be. _


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